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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Hello, Lover!

In between rounds of Fruit Ninja, Play-Doh fun, and having mini dance parties (ok, this last one is just me...and Dance Central), I broke out one of my Christmas presents and messed up the kitchen a bit. Nothing major. Just a lot of chocolate chip cookies. I wanted to get a feel for my new kitchen toy and since chocolate chip cookies are always in demand in this household (mainly by Brett, the Munchkin doesn't know any better...yet) I figured it wouldn't hurt to try to whip up a batch...or two...or three. Cause y'know, I gotta see how well this mixer can handle cookie dough.

I'm hoping that maybe next weekend I can really have a go at it and see what this bad boy can do. Brett had to work all weekend and was stuck doing work related things when he wasn't actually working, and since the Munchkin has yet to reach that stage where he can be occupied for longer than 5 minutes (if that) at a time, I really didn't want to try anything adventurous in case my attention was needed elsewhere...like when said three year old just needs me to watch him make his Mario stuffed doll toy (Brett was very adamant that boys don't play with dolls...they play with "toys" or "figurines") do death defying stunts off the window sill in the living room. Yeah, not really a good time to say, have condensed milk boiling away on the stove and you're waiting for the right temperature before it's considered burned. Or to have a bowl full of egg whites whipping away until it's at "stiff peaks".

Brett's still worried that I don't love my new mixer. Or even like it. I know, he's crazy. He thinks the fact that it's a black Classic stand mixer and not the Komen pink Artisan stand mixer that I've been lusting after forever, is the reason why I would shoo it away. Um...why would anyone who likes to bake, in their right mind, turn down a stand mixer? Any kind of Kitchen Aid stand mixer at that?? Yes, it's not my beloved pink. True, it won't matched the rest of my kitchen stuff. Yes, it's not the Artisan. But the thing is, I've always wanted a stand mixer to call my very own since high school. There have been several times where I myself have almost purchased the black Artisan because it was on sale at a very, very, VERY good price. But had to practice restraint due to the fact that I spent my budget on yarn. So as you can see, black was my next choice anyways.

I still remember my Mom's mixer, she's had it since the 70s and it's this weird browny green mustard colour and after how many decades it's still going strong. She used to churn out six loaves of banana bread at a time. I used to come home from school to the amazing smell of baking banana bread and find at least twelve loaves cooling away on our kitchen table. Don't worry, they weren't all for us. All my aunts, uncles, and cousins used to circle our house like hungry vultures whenever they caught wind that my mom was making unusually large banana purchases. Sadly, my mom no longer bakes banana bread. This fact makes me cry.

So I'm making it my mission this year to perfect my mom's banana bread recipe (if I can get it out of her head, that is...after over 20 years of baking at least six loaves every couple of months I'm sure the recipe has been tweaked and embedded in your brain). Another mission: to perfect the Madeleine cookie. I read somewhere that you should have a dish that you are known for. That you should pick a recipe and own it. Whilst I have yet to perfect lasagne (although, I'm rethinking that dish and wondering if I should pick something else...since technically the recipe given to me came from my friend Tyler, who seriously kills it), I think I could master the Madeleine. As if my plate wasn't full enough (ha ha ha...) I'm thinking of also getting down a marshmallow recipe down pat too. Over the holidays when the Rice Krispy treats were flying around here, a few mini marshmallows may have gone rogue. The Munchkin has developed a liking to them (yet doesn't like the regular sized marshmallows...so weird). I'm not really thrilled with him eating such soft pillows of corn by-products and stuff that I can't pronounce, and figured that if he's going to eat such things then I should make him a somewhat better-for-him version of it. Like using kosher gelatin. It would just make me feel a whole lot better about it all.

Completely off topic but topical to this blog, I've also been busy knitting away. I even had my first FO of the year come fresh off the needles last week! I have a few other projects pretty close to be done too. I'm so excited! I even wound up a few skeins of yarn when I woke up this morning. I think a new yarn winder and possibly a swift is in my near future. I've had my yarn winder for a few years now and it has served me very well, but now I think it's on its last leg of life. The poor thing can no longer handle anything heavier than a DK weight yarn (if I'm lucky), and has been winding up pretty messy cakes. You can just hear the contraption struggling to wind. As for my swift, it was my first major knitterly purchase (other than my interchangeable needles set) and it too has done its job for me fairly well. Unfortunately it can't handle the weight of yarn any more and needs the key to be jimmied with some tissue to make it stick. I think I can rig it so that it can last a few more months or at least bug Brett to make me one. I'm thinking the winder is on top of the priority list between the two and I'm hoping that with all this money that I'm "saving" from being on a yarn diet will be able to aid me in the purchase of a new winder. Anyone have any recommendations for a winder that can handle heavy use? I'd give my left nut for this one.

Anyhoo, I'm hoping to get some photos taken this week to show you some of my current WIPs and my lonely FO. The dreary grey weather that we've been having lately has put quite the damper on my photo taking opportunities. Today is suppose to be a nice day, but we'll see if I'll be able to get away long enough to snap a few pics. In the meantime, I have some yarn calling my name.

Oh, thanks Nat! :) I have a pan but might want to borrow yours so that I can keep the Madeleine train going. Baking takes so much longer when you have to wait for something to cool down before you can throw another tray into the oven.

ok you know how you say we are super a like and are always thinking the same things days apart. I think that might be why Brett got you this mixer instead of the pink because I have the exact same mixer!!! Ha ha crazy.

ooo I want one of those too. I have a vintage one buried in storage which I plan to dig out soon (go '50s!) but it if it doesn't cut it, a kitchen aide is next on my list.

Speaking of madelines, have you seen the cute miniature cookie trays for these? I saw them at that cooking place (muffet & louisa?) across from the blue bridge, but they were sort of $$$. Definitely tempting though! Everything is cuter in miniature.

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